ATLANTA (AP) — Wade Davis has converted each of his 18 saves with the Cubs this year.
The ninth inning against the Braves was proof they haven't all been easy.
Jon Lester bounced back from the shortest start of his career by allowing only one run in seven innings and Chicago stopped Atlanta’s ninth-inning comeback to give the Cubs a 4-3 win over the Braves on Monday night.
The Cubs led 4-1 before Atlanta scored two runs in the ninth off Davis. The game ended with the bases loaded.
“I’ve probably had two or three this year where I just don’t know where anything is going,” Davis said. “With the outcome that the team wins, I’m not even upset.
Davis allowed one-out singles to Brandon Phillips and Freddie Freeman before Phillips scored from third on a wild pitch. Matt Kemp followed with a run-scoring single before pinch-runner Lane Adams stole second and moved to third on Tyler Flowers’ fly ball to the warning track in center field.
Following an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Matt Adams, pinch-runner Dansby Swanson stole second, leaving runners on second and third. Davis walked Sean Rodriguez, playing in his first game of the season, to load the bases.
Johan Camargo’s fly ball to shallow left ended the game.
Ben Zobrist gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the fifth. Anthony Rizzo hit his 23rd homer to center in the seventh, and Addison Russell drove in Javier Baez with a double in the eighth.
Lester allowed one run in his first win since June 24.
Lester returned to his winning form after allowing 10 runs, four earned, in two-thirds of an inning in a 14-3 loss to Pittsburgh on July 9.